A Snohomish County judge today set bail at $250,000 for a 27-year-old Everett man accused of starving his 4-year-old son as a disciplinary tool.

Snohomish County Sheriff's deputies arrested the man and his 22-year-old girlfriend Friday, two days after they had discovered the emaciated child living in an apartment in the 12900 block of East Gibson Road, said sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover.

They had checked on the boy's welfare at the request of a Seattle-based state Child Protective Services case worker, she said.

The boy was so weak he couldn't sit up on his own, she said.

The 22-pound boy told deputies he had only eaten popcorn and water that day, Hover said. He was taken into protective custody, treated at a local hospital and then transferred to Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle. He is expected to survive, but he faces a long recovery, she said.

The child suffers from conditions associated with severe malnutrition, Hover said, including hypothermia caused by a lack of body fat, anemia and muscle degeneration.

The boy had lived with his father, the man's girlfriend and the couple's 14-month-old daughter for about a year, Hover said. The girl, who appeared to be well-fed and healthy, also was removed from the home. Hover could provide no information about the boy's mother.

The father initially told deputies his son had always been skinny and had medical issues, Hover said. After his arrest, Hover said, he allegedly told detectives he had denied the child food and had asked his girlfriend to follow suit.

"He told detectives he never felt, or never developed, a parental connection to the child," she said. "He told detectives he used the denial of food as a form of punishment or discipline."

The girlfriend denied withholding food from the boy, Hover said.

Adults who have spoken with the boy describe him "in glowing terms," Hover said. "Extremely polite" is a common refrain, she said.

The sheriff's office had no prior contact with the family regarding the child, she said.

Joan Cavagnaro, deputy chief prosecutor, asked District Court Judge Roger Fisher today to raise the man's bail to $250,000, from $2,500, due to "the serious nature of the allegations."

After the hearing, Cavagnaro said the man's girlfriend had been released from jail.

"The investigation will determine what, if any, charges will be brought" against the woman, she said.

Cavagnaro said this isn't the first case of its kind she has seen. But "they're not frequent," she said. "I would say this is a bad one."